XCOM: Enemy Unknown
by Unknown Nemesis
Summary: "There are two possibilities: either we're alone in the universe or we're not. Both are equally terrifying"- Arthur C. Clarke; Threatened by an Extraterrestrial invasion, Earth's governments unite to form an elite paramilitary organization known as the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit AKA XCOM to combat the alien threat as well as face a new enemy within their own race; EXALT.
1. New Recruits

_"There are two possibilities: Either we're alone in the universe, or we're not. Both are equally terrifying."_- Arthur C. Clarke

**Chapter 1: New Recruits**

_In 2015, an unidentified capsule was dispensed from an aircraft in the sky. The capsule crashed into a major metropolitan area, green substance sprayed out upon contact and subdued innocent bystanders in some form of cocoon. In a last ditch effort, the world's nations have banded together and approved the activation of the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit; XCOM. This is to serve as the Earth's first and last line of defense against the alien threat. The fate of the world now rests in the hands of XCOM…_

* * *

The Skyranger landed in the hangar bay of XCOM HQ, its back slowly extending into a ramp to the ground once the engines had cooled were switched off. Inside the ship's deck contained around thirteen fresh recruits for the XCOM Project's ranks. They stepped out, admiring the view of the hangar, it was quite big and a large exit stared down at them from the roof where the Skyranger would depart and re-enter.

The first of the soldiers was Ivan Drago, he was twenty five and the second oldest out of all the rookies. He was tall and quite muscular with buzzed blond hair gleaming on top of his head along with blue eyes. The next soldier to emerge from the Skyranger was Connor Hewitt, who was nineteen years old when he signed into service. Despite his age, he looked a lot older than he really was. Connor had some decent muscles though had a bit of a beer gut that was luckily concealed under his clothes. His shaggy white-grey hair reached down to his shoulders as he scratched his scruffy facial hair, giving a small nod at the hangar's size, his yellow eyes beaming at the top door.

Beside Connor was Kevin Stone, who was twenty one years old. Like Connor, he had shoulder length shaggy hair excepted it was brown along with brown eyes. He was a bit more muscular than Connor however. Despite being the older one, both Kevin and Connor got along like close brothers and acted like two mischievous children at times. Next to exit was Damien McReary, a twenty year old who was interested in medical activities. He stood at six feet, having dark brown buzzcut hair and blue eyes. He wasn't very muscular however...in fact he was quite pathetic when it came to physical strength compared to the others.

Behind Damien was Jesse Guerrero, being eighteen years old and one of the youngest in the new batch. He was lean, had brown eyes, a bit muscular and black hair with the front slightly spiked up. The rookie who followed was twenty one year old Axel Blaze, a young and lean soldier with short black hair and brown eyes. Axel was probably one of the more level-headed of the group, usually calming down any situations before they got out of hand. Coming behind Axel was Victor Nelson, who was twenty years old, had short brown hair, brown eyes, and was the quiet one of the group. He wasn't very social, usually found reading a book or cleaning his weapon. Sarah Matthews was the next to follow. Sarah was about eighteen years old, being another one of the young soldiers. She had lovely dark brown hair with brown eyes and was the cheerful one of the group.

Following Sarah's lead was Jonathan Swift, an eighteen year old dark skinned rookie who was tall and a bit thin in the legs and arms. He had black buzzcut hair as well as standing at six foot one. Next to Swift was T. He wasn't comfortable around people with his named so he preferred to be called T but the squad just nicknamed him Mr. T as a joke. T was eighteen as well as being black skinned, standing at six feet tall and being a bit lanky. He was usually accident prone or trying to liven things up but got along just fine. The one who came next was Arceus Cardigan.

Arceus was thirty two and by far, the oldest. He had caucasian skin, a buff stature, and a dirty blonde faux hawk hair style sitting on his head. Arceus could be proclaimed as the team's leader. The last two were David Heilo and Red Jackson. David's last name meant 'Ice' Spanish and was usually found wearing sunglasses, trying to come across as 'cool' while the others just found him being a bit egotistical. Red was a huge joker, always making light out of even the heaviest of subjects. He was nineteen years old and had short red hair and green eyes. He was around five foot seven in height.

"This place is huge!" Connor commented.

"Thank you, captain obvious." David grunted.

"Smartass." Kevin mumbled under his breath at David.

"Attention!" Arceus' voice rose and the men straightened themselves as a man in a green sweater and a pilot wearing a mask over his face approached them. He appeared to be in his thirties as the men looked at him. Arceus gave a salute and the rest of the squad followed suite.

"Arceus and Echo Squad reporting, sir!" Cardigan reported.

"As you were, gentlemen." the man ordered as the squad relaxed a bit. "Welcome to XCOM HQ. My name is Bradford, I work as central officer in Mission Control. This here is Travis Frederick, AKA Big Sky, he will be your pilot from here on out." The pilot gave the rookies a small nod while the team gave him a quick salute. Bradford continued. "Seeing as how you're new, I'll show you around." Bradford turned and headed towards a hallway, ushering the team to follow. "Follow me." The troops followed Bradford around the base, moving past halls and rooms of XCOM personnel standing guard or working at monitors.

The team then arrived at a large room filled with a chamber, some desks with chemicals sitting upon them, and several people with aprons working and jotting down some notes on a clip board. One female in particular approached the group.

"This is Dr. Vahlen, our head scientist." Bradford introduced.

"Welcome, trainees." Dr. Vahlen greeted in a rather thick German accent. "These are the research labs where we gather our knowledge on the alien species and their technology."

"She's kinda hot." Red whispered to David. Damien then elbowed Red in the stomach a little bit to shut him up.

"This is Arceus Cardigan, leader of Echo Squad." Bradford said, gesturing to Arceus who gave a salute.

"Feel free to visit whenever you can." Vahlen said in a polite tone. "I must return to my work. We're currently looking over some artifacts recovered from the bodies of aliens in battle." with that said, the doctor returned to her colleagues while Bradford lead the squad out of the room.

"She was pretty nice." Kevin said.

"And hot." Red hammered down which earned him a smack upside the head, this time by Connor.

"Just shut up, please." Connor groaned. The team then arrived in a large workshop. A conveyer belt was equipped with mechanical arms were seen putting together body armor as it was handed to them. A man who had balding grey hair approached them upon seeing Bradford and the team.

"Men, this is Dr, Shen, chief engineer of XCOM." Bradford said.

"Ah, these are the new recruits? I was wondering when we'd get some extra hands!" the senior said with a slight chuckle.

"This is Arceus Cardigan, squad leader." Bradford introduced Arceus. Shen went up to Arceus and shook his hand.

"Pleasure to have you here!" the chief engineer said happily.

"Good to be here, sir." Arceus gave a small smile and then saluted before returning to his team.

"We'll be here manufacturing some weapons and armor for you, be sure to visit every now and then to check it out first hand." Shen informed.

"We certainly will. Thank you, sir." Arceus replied.

"I'll return to my post, nice meeting you all." Shen bid farewell and headed back to his station.

"I'll escort you and your team to the barracks." Bradford lead the team out of the workshops and approached a door with "Barracks" labeled above the door. Bradford opened the door and the team entered to see several bunks scattered throughout the room. Near the back of the room was a set of workout equipment and a couple treadmills lined up next to one another. On the left side of the room were a couple TVs with a games console at each one.

"I'll leave you all to rest here for the night. Your training will begin tomorrow." Bradford nodded, shutting the door while the team gazed around in awe.

"Dibs on the games console!" David and Red yelled at the same grabbing some controllers and they began to play a game. Victor sat by himself on a bottom bunk, reading a book, Connor and Kevin sat down with David and Red to play some tag-team Mortal Kombat. Arceus sat down on another bunk, relaxing. In fact, the majority of the team went to play the games while Victor and Arceus were the only ones who remained at the bunks.

"Guess we're too of a kind, huh, Victor? Arceus said. Victor just looked up from his book and gave a small nod before returning his attention to it. Arceus gave a small sigh and then thought to himself. Training...wonder how that'll turn out.

"YEAH!" shouted Connor and Kevin, victoriously cutting into Arceus' thoughts. David and Red groaned as they gave up the controllers to Jonathan and T who sat down and began their match. It stayed like that for most of the night before the team eventually settled down and hit the hay.

* * *

**And that concludes the first chapter of XCOM: Enemy Unknown! Hopefully you've all enjoyed it so far! I know it may seem a bit short but don't worry, I'll try to make the chapters longer, this is just to introduce you to the story! Next few chapters or so, training! So aren't we in for a fucking treat? XD Reviews are greatly appreciated, this is UN saying "Stay gold!"**


	2. Training Begins

**Welcome to chapter 2 of XCOM Enemy Unknown where we begin the rookies' training process in their quest to become great XCOM soldiers and survive the war! Enjoy the chapter!**

**Chapter 2: Training Begins**

* * *

Echo Squad awoke the following morning and headed over to the training course.

"Wait, what about breakfast?" David asked.

"Sorry, but we're not getting any until we train first. If we eat beforehand, you're going to have a major cramp and start puking all over the place." Arceus explained. What followed was two, long, torturous minutes of David moping and groaning about being hungry before they had arrive at the course. There were formations of troops jogging on far ends of the field, drills, shooting range, others were sparring with one another, and a some were running an obstacle course consisting of large walls, long jumps, rope swings, and mud crawling.

"Do we...have to do all of this…?" Red asked, a bit pooped.

"Apparently so, we signed up for this...kind of expected." Connor said.

"Fuck me." Jesse muttered.

"Alright, enough of the complaining, we signed up for this and we're going to have to deal with it!" Arceus ordered his men. "Our drill sergeant may be on his way here-"

"STAND AT ATTENTION, SOLDIER!" a voice boomed behind Arceus and the squad leader jumped a bit. "WHAT'RE YOU, DEAF? I SAID STAND AT ATTENTION!" Arceus did as he was told and spun around, saluting, straightening himself.

"Arceus and Echo Squad reporting, sir!" Arceus quickly said. The officer that stood in front of him was a square-jawed, medium height male who had the blackest eyes they had ever seen. They may as well have been looking at the eyes of the devil himself. He wore an XCOM sweater with dark brown jeans, black combat boots, and a green drill sergeant hat resting upon his head.

"I DIDN'T ASK FOR YOUR NAME, YOU WILL SPEAK UNLESS SPOKEN TO, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!" the drill sergeant boomed once more.

"Sir, yes sir!" Arceus said immediately.

"NOW, ALL OF YOU STAND IN A LINE!" the drill sergeant shouted at the squad. Echo Squad all scrambled into a line, though David was a bit slow after his quiet moping about him being hungry. The drill sergeant spoke once more, though this time his voice wasn't as loud.

"My name is Sergeant Mattos and I am your drill sergeant! You will all do as I say accordingly and immediately! Now sound off!"

"Corporal Arceus Cardigan reporting!" Arceus started.

"CORPORAL?!" Mattos yelled in Arceus' face. "HERE, YOU'RE JUST AS INSIGNIFICANT AS THESE MEN HERE! YOU'RE A PRIVATE IN THIS MILITARY NOW! DEAL WITH IT, SON! CARRY ON!"

"Private Connor Hewitt, sir!" Connor continued.

"Private Kevin Stone, sir!" Kevin followed.

"Private Jonathan Swift, sir!" Jonathan said.

"Private David Heilo, sir…" David moped, rubbing his growling stomach.

"Private Red Jackson, sir!" Red reported.

"Private Sarah Matthews, sir!"

"Private Jesse Guerrero, sir!"

"Private Victor Nelson, sir."

"Private Ivan Drago, sir!"

"Private Axel Blaze, sir!"

"Private T, sir!" T finished off, earning a small glare from Mattos. He strode over to T.

"Excuse me?" Mattos snarled.

"P-Private T, sir…" T squeaked.

"T? What's your real name, boy?" T remained silent at that.

"I AIN'T PLAYING WITH YOU, I SAID TELL ME YOUR REAL NAME!" Mattos' voice thundered down hard on T. The poor private might have pissed himself from sheer fright had the drill sergeant not noticed Red snickering to himself and the second Mattos laid his eyes on him, Red straightened up. But Mattos went up to him anyway.

"You think I'm funny? You think me yelling if funny?" the drill sergeant asked menacingly.

"Sorry, sir!" Red apologized.

"IN HERE, YELLING IS THE NORM, SON! ITS THE ONLY WAY TO GET YOUR ATTENTION AND KEEP YOUR ATTENTION!" he turned to the others. "CHILDISH BEHAVIOR WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!" Red started to snicker again until Mattos grabbed him by the collar and yanked him close, their noses nearly touching. "DO YOU GET ME, PRIVATE?!"

"SIR, YES SIR!" Red said as fast as he could, hoping not to piss off the drill sergeant any further. Mattos shoved him away from the group.

"Private, you see those barracks way over there? Run over there then come back and do it again, twenty times!" Mattos ordered. Red gave a small sigh until the drill sergeant took out a baton and struck his back. "RUN, NOW!" Red ran without a second though, as if hell were on his heels. The drill sergeant called over a soldier from his station and handed the baton to him. "Make sure the maggot keeps pace." the soldier nodded and chased Red, striking him whenever the rookie slowed down even by a the distance of a rat's ass.

"As for the rest of you…" Mattos said, turning back to the squad. "In here, you're being trained to combat the alien threat, they're unlike anything we've ever faced, their biology, tactics, culture, and weapons are beyond our current knowledge! I'm here to whip you poor sacks of shit into the best shape possible! You're mine now, you all belong to me! You WILL hurt, you WILL get dirty, and if you end up missing your mommies then SHIT, FUCK, OUT OF LUCK! YOU CAN JUST SHIP YOUR SORRY ASS BACK TO YOUR HOMES AND SIT THERE, KNOWING WE STILL FIGHT FOR HUMANITY WHILE YOU QUIT! DO YOU GET ME?!"

"Sir, yes sir!" the squad answered.

"Good." Mattos said, satisfied before crossing his arms. "Let's start with three hundred push ups, on the ground now!" The squad dropped and began the drill while Mattos observed, walking up down the row of rookies while Red's faint screams of being hit by the soldier with the baton echoed in the background. Fortunately for T, the drill sergeant had forgotten all about his name thanks to Red. He had to remind himself to buy him a drink in gratitude.

This went on for about ten to fifteen minutes when the squad finally wrapped up. They all stood, nursing their now aching arms, veins becoming more visible.

"Damn…that was...hell." Connor mumble.

"I've never felt this much pain in my arms before." Kevin followed up.

"Agreed…" Victor grunted.

"Now, head over to the sparring mat, NOW!" Mattos ordered and the squad ran over at once. Red, however had just finished the running and was ordered to do the pushups before joining the others. He gave a loud groan before dropping down and starting the drill he had missed out on.

"Today, we're going to test out your strength! This is about improvement, not a competition! Though competition is a great motivator, it shouldn't turn the squad against each other! Now, two of you will come up at a time and one must knock the other down for about five seconds." Mattos instructed. "First up, I want Private Stone and Private McReary front and center!" Kevin and Damien stepped forward, Damien looking a bit worried. He was the weakest after all. The two took a fighting stance and then Mattos blew a whistle. Damien reacted a bit quicker as he took one hard roundhouse kick aimed at Kevin's head who ducked and tripped him. Damien rolled back up, only to receive a hard punch to the face by Kevin and he fell like dead weight. Mattos blew the whistle after about five seconds and Kevin gave a perplexed look.

"Um...was that it…?" he asked.

"Apparently so." Mattos answered, jotting down the progress on a clip board. Kevin knelt down and helped Damien up, who was holding his jaw in pain. Stone gave him a light pat on the back for at least doing his best and the two returned to the squad as Mattos made the next choice. "Private Hewitt and Private Swift."

Connor and Jonathan walked up to the mat and took their stances. Connor went first, throwing a punch but Jonathan blocked it with his forearm and slams his knee into Connor's abdomen. Connor stumbled back but Jonathan followed this up with a quick jump kick and sent him down. Hewitt only remained down for about three seconds before kipping back up and the two stared for a second until Swift moved in and threw a punch across Connor's face. He nailed Connor in the gut and then Irish Whipped him down, this time Connor wasn't able to recover fast enough with the wind knocked out of him. Mattos blew the whistle and the two returned to the squad.

"Private Drago and Private Nelson, you're up!" Mattos called out. Victor and Ivan stepped out of the group and faced one another. Ivan swooped past Victor and grabbed him by the waist. Victor elbowed Ivan in the face but Drago was able to lift him up and slam Nelson on the ground. Victor kicked Ivan's stomach and then came back up with an uppercut to the face, making Ivan stumble back. Nelson got up and the two traded punches until Ivan managed to sweep Victor's leg so hard, he practically flipped and hit the floor for the five second take down. Mattos blew the whistle for Ivan's victory and he helped Victor up who gave a light shrug.

"Up next is Private Blaze and Private T...I STILL WANT YOUR NAME SOME TIME TODAY, PRIVATE! TODAY!" Mattos boomed once more.

T shuddered as he walked with Axel and the two began their match. Axel made a few mock charges at T to startle him a bit. T threw a couple punches at Axel, landing one against Blaze's face but Axel managed to catch one of his fists and twisted it hard, making T shout in extreme pain as Axel arm dragged him to the floor with the twisted arm. T didn't get back up, the entire team was wincing at this point. Axel looked over T, and then looked worried if he over did it. Mattos blew the whistle and knelt beside T.

"You alright, son?" he asked.

"Sir, no, sir...my arm hurts like hell…" T reported, holding his arm.

"Medics! We've got an injured one here!" Mattos yelled and a few paramedics rushed over, tending to T's injury.

"T, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it that hard." Axel said.

"No, I'll be fine," T grunted as he was being helped by the paramedics. "At least its not broken. You're pretty damn good though…" the medics carried T away to the infirmary while Mattos returned his attention to the squad.

"We'll resume training at 13:00 sharp, dismissed!" Mattos ordered.

"Sir, yes, sir!" the squad said and departed from the training course.

"FOOD AT LAST!" David rejoiced. Red then ran to where the squad once stood.

"I'm..ready...sir." Red panted, out of breath, his arms aching like hell.

"You're late." Mattos grunted. "So, as for your final punishment….put 'em up."

"Wait, what?!" Red asked, bewildered.

"Put, your damn fists up and take a shot at me!" Mattos ordered. Red reluctantly did so and Mattos made the first move.

The entire base was shaken by Red's screams of pain.

* * *

The rest of the team sat in the cafeteria, David was already on his seventh bowl with the rest of the squad sat in awe.

"Wow...just….wow…." Arceus said at the sight.

Red then came up to the team, beaten and bruised with a lot of dirt all over his face.

"What happened to you?" Kevin asked.

"Don't even asked…" Red said, taking a seat.

"Did you get your ass kicked by Mattos?" Connor chuckled.

"None of your damn business!" Red said, slightly embarrassed and the squad gave a small laugh, Kevin patting his back.

"Nothing to be ashamed of buddy. We all got our asses kicked at some point. You could've ended up like Damien."

"Hey!" Damien shouted, a bit offended.

"Take it easy on him, Kevin." Ivan said. "He's not much of a physical fighter." "Well, he's not the only who keeps his head in books," David said, finishing his bowl. "I mean look at Victor; he's a practical book worm yet a tough half mute." Victor looked up from his bowl and gave David the finger with a small smirk. The squad laughed a bit.

"Man, I felt like I was going to go deaf with Mattos' constant yelling!" Sarah said.

"Yeah, he was a bit oversensitive, don't you think?" Jesse added.

"I know, right?" Sarah said in agreement. Connor leaned back in his chair.

"You know, I wonder when we'll get out there and bust some alien ass." he said.

"I'm sure, we'll have our chance eventually." Jesse assured.

"Eventually could be a long time though." Red panned.

"Don't be such a downer, having an attitude like that will have nothing but negative consequences." Damien cut in.

"Like the pizza being all out?" Red said, looking at David who gave a guilty smile.

"Pizza's all out?!" said a voice from behind. The rookies turned to see T, who had his arm in a sling, standing there with a saddened expression. "I was looking forward to that! David, you asshole!"

"I couldn't help it, going through pushups and all that shit in the morning without ONE bite of something was killing me!" David said with anime style tears.

"Oh, I'll show you what's going to kill you!" T said as he tackled David across the table, despite his injured arm and gave David a hard beatdown. The squad laughed once again, enjoying the moment before training would come once again.

* * *

**And that's chapter 2, folks! The next one will include the wrap up of the sparring matches, the shooting range, and possibly even the obstacle course XD I will make sure to get us into the action soon enough! Be sure to review, favorite, and stick around for the rest of the ride because this is still just the beginning! Until next time, stay gold my friends!**


	3. Weapons and Obstacles

**Welcome to chapter 3 of XCOM: Enemy Unknown where we continue the men's training! This will likely be the second-to-last or last chapter of training before the actual ground combat begins. Hopefully you all have fun reading! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3: Weapons and Obstacles**

* * *

Echo squad finished their breakfast and then returned to the training course some time later. They resumed their sparring matches with Connor and Arceus being called up. Connor kicked at Cardigan but the corporal managed to catch his foot and shoved him back, bringing down Connor's guard. Arceus wasted no time in landing a blow to Connor's stomach once the match began and this made the private collapse, writhing in pain as Mattos blew the whistle. Red and Jesse were called up next and to make things blunt, all it took was one good blow by Red to the face of Jesse and he was out like a light. There was nobody for Sarah to spar with so Mattos assured her that they'd find somebody for her to have a match with.

With their sparring out of the way, and the knocked out regained their consciousness, Mattos and Echo squad made their way over to the firing range where several targets were set up on a long lane of rows. The targets had all been shaped to resemble grey aliens with each lane being covered by a panel where an individual soldier would stand and fire. Mattos presented the team with a rifle.

"Sweet, we get use the guns now." Red said anxiously.

"I'd prefer to get my hands on one of those LMGs." Connor dreamt.

"I'd prefer to just blast the SOB's at close range with the shotgun." Force whispered. "Rock-a-bye bang!"

"This is the standard issue X-9 Assault Rifle. It is an effective mid-ranged weapon but is most powerful at short-range. It can hold up to thirty rounds in a mag before having to reload. Each of you will test your accuracy and effectiveness at hitting a target." Mattos explained. "Now, I want each of you to take a rifle and take a lane. Prepare to fire on my command."

"Sir, yes sir!" the rookies grabbed some ear muffs and picked up some rifles. The troops took their spots at the panels. T, however looked at his injured arm then walked up to Mattos.

"Sir, may I request permission to use a pistol on account of my injured arm?" Mattos thought for a moment then nodded, handing him a pistol.

"Knock yourself out, kid." Mattos said and T headed to his own panel.

"This things a bit heavier than I though." Axel commented.

"Well, these weapons are made to combat aliens." Arceus said, looking over the weapon. "I'm not too surprised."

"I can carry it just fine." Connor chimed in.

"Me too." Kevin added.

"Same." Ivan said as well.

"Ready!" Mattos shouted and the men steadied themselves. "Aim!" the rookies then took aim at their targets. "FIRE!" the rookies pulled their triggers and the weapons cracked loudly, bullets shredding the targets in front of them. A few more targets popped up to surprised the squad but were quickly cut down. Then moving targets showed up, some of the squad missed but Jonathan was able to get a head shot. The targets continued to pop into the open, Connor sprayed one with his rifle, filling it holes, Kevin practically blew another target's upper torso in half from concentrated fire, Victor and Axel fired short bursts, blasting a few targets to pieces. Sarah and Jesse worked together on one target, shredding it to nothing but a few strands of metal. Damien fired and for every shot he made, he would miss about two more which was a bit below average.

T managed to get a few decent shots with his pistol before he was making head shots left and right. Arceus was landing some torso shots, usually popping a target three or four times before moving on. David was also doing pretty well against the standing targets but was struggling with the moving targets. The squad continued with Mattos observing closely.

He noticed that T and Jonathan were the best shots out of the whole team; Victor, Jesse, and Axel were above average at best; Connor and David were pretty good as well but their true skills remained to be seen, Kevin and Arceus were very concentrated on the torsos before they moved on to the next target which made him consider some weapon swaps; Red, Sarah, and Damien however were average shots but Sarah had some improvement when working with Jesse. The squad reloaded and were ready to fire again until Mattos blew his whistle.

"Alright, ceasefire!" he ordered and the squad did so. They set down their weapons and admired their work.

"Holy shit, did you guys see how I shredded that one in the way back?" Connor said, pointing at the strands of metal now littering the floor.

"You think that's good, I got like five headshots with a PISTOL!" T asserted.

"Hey, I was getting headshots too!" Jonathan said, a bit offended.

"With a RIFLE, I got it with a PISTOL, HUGE difference there!" T said.

"Enough!" Mattos said and the team stopped their gun cock contest as fast as it begun. "Privates T and Jonathan are by far the best shots in the squad." Jonathan and T gave a small high five to one another. "Privates Connor, David, Axel, Victor, and Arceus are above average, however Privates Red, Sarah, and Damien could use some improvement." Mattos continued. "Now, let's move on to the training course for your reflexes." the team followed their drill sergeant towards the obstacle course that stood in their path.

"Alright, you sorry maggots, you're to get through this obstacle course in less than two minutes, T will sit this one out due to his injury, GO!" The team was a bit taken back by the fact that they had no prep time. They squandered over one another as they ran up the ramp towards the rope jumps. Victor and Connor jumped first, grabbing ahold of the rope. They swung back and forth twice before jumping and making it to the other side. As they took the lead, Kevin and Red grabbed the ropes, swinging across the mud pit below. One minute and forty five seconds remained. Kevin's grip faltered however and he plummeted into the brown liquid with a loud splash. Red managed to make the swing and continued on.

The rest of the group followed suite, losing no one else in this process. The team then came across a huge wall with a pit between them and their jump. Should one slip, it was a messy bath. One minute and twenty seconds left. Jesse took the first jump but didn't make his mark and fell into the mud below. VIctor, Damien, Connor, and Arceus followed afterwards, all three having no luck. Sarah, however managed to make the jump just right and climbed over the wall. She was succeeded by Red, David, Axel, and Jonathan. The remaining five soldiers continued their way down a ramp and then saw a mud crawl with barbed wire a feet above the ground. One minute left.

Axel bravely took the crawl first, leading the way as his uniform became soaking wet with patches of light brown. Red, David, Jonathan, and Sarah followed him as time slowly began to close. Less than thirty seconds left. Axel managed to reach the other side and pulled his fellow trainees out of the crawl space with twenty seconds now remaining. To make a long story short, the remaining rookies didn't make it in time but Mattos' reaction was what seemed to stun them a bit.

"Well, good work for a first try, rookies. Private Blaze, I have to say that you're one of the first I've seen to actually stay behind and help out a teammate. Most would just worry for themselves. Good work." Mattos complimented and Axel smiled a bit.

"Thank you sir!" Axel said.

"As for the rest of you, good work for those who made it past the wall jump. I'm quite impressed." Mattos continued. "Now, head back to the barracks, get yourselves washed up, and we'll call it a day."

"Sir, yes, sir!" the squad replied and then filed back to their block.

The team stood in the showers, washing up their hair, these showers were a bit in the open except for Sarah who took a shower in the lady's showers. The men began to have a small chat with one another.

"So, what're you guys going to do when this war's over?" David said, scrubbing some soap out of his scalp.

"If it ends…" Victor grumbled, though nobody seemed to notice or care.

"I want to move on and became a medical doctor of sorts." Damien said. "I'm kinda interested in surgery and all that."

"Lame." coughed Jonathan.

"Its not like YOU have any future plans for the war's end!" Damien snapped.

"Almost ANYTHING is better than a medical surgeon, Damien." Jonathan replied.

"Oh, saving lives is not as good as being a mechanic or waiter at a resturaunt, fuck you." Damien said, turning away from him.

"I was planning to become a full time soldier anyway, saving a whole WORLD at the moment." Swift concluded.

"Speaking of which, why're you guys here?" Arceus asked.

"I just wanted to shoot up some aliens and serve my country. I mean, I want to make a difference in the UK." Connor said as he scrubbed his arm pit.

"I'm mainly here due to my military service." Arceus shrugged. "What're you going to do?"

"I think the majority of us are here for the same reason, protecting our homes and families. Why not ask what we want to do after the war?" Kevin suggested.

"Okay, then." Red started off. "I think I'll become a stand up comedian or just go full military service. Its just a thought though."

"I'll probably write an autobiography about my missions and all." Victor said.

"Holy crap, Victor just talked!" Connor said in a bit of shock.

"He speaks!" Jesse said, reminiscent of Beowulf.

"Shut up." Victor grumbled and went back to cleaning himself.

"Hey, David, what're you going to do after the war?" Connor eventually asked.

"I want to do military full time." David replied. "Get out there, have some adrenaline rushes and all, heh."

"That's my goal as well." Arceus chimed in. "I was in the military before this started and now I'm in charge of all you guys. Once this is over, I'll be going back to my military duties."

"Heh heh…" chuckled Axel.

"What?" Arceus asked.

"Duty." Axel snickered.

"...Act mature, will you?" Arceus groaned.

"Say, what're you planning to do, Connor?" Axel changed the subject.

"Eh, not sure. I'll cross that bridge when I get there." Connor said bluntly. "Likely go to the UK and have some good ole' tea."

"Maybe you can become a royal guard." Kevin suggested in a sarcastic tone.

"No, mm-mm. No, no, no, no, no, NO, NO, HELL NO! I REFU-NO! NO!" Connor shouted, shaking his head wildly before taking deep breaths and calming down.

"Relax, bud, I'm just messing with ya!" Kevin laughed.

"Axel, what do you plan to do?" Damien spoke up.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe just become a firefighter or something like that. Find something along those lines." Axel shrugged.

"What about you, Jesse?" Arceus asked.

"Well, maybe get married, have a family, get a job as a professional wrestler." Jesse said.

"Oh, don't be so modest, Jesse!" T said, standing leaning against the entrance of the showers.

"What do you mean?" Jesse said, narrowing his eyes.

"I know you've got a crush on that Sarah girl." T smirked.

"...OHHHHHHHHHHH!" the entire team, except Arceus, went at this, Jesse blushing a bit.

"Jesse, you dog!" Connor laughed.

"I didn't think you would actually find a crush this early!" David said.

"Maybe we can help you get a little lip lock!" Red joked.

"No, I'm not!" Jesse protested.

"We understand if you don't want to tell us, Jesse." Kevin said, holding back a snicker.

"Yeah, we understand." laughed Axel. Jesse facepalmed and walked out of the showers, utterly embarrassed while the team laughed behind him. Jesse turned to T.

"You're in for it, just you wait." he growled as he left, wrapping a towel around his waist. T just chuckled in return.

"Whatever you say, bud." T murmured.

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**And that was chapter 3, hopefully you all enjoyed it! Reviews are welcome, be sure to favorite the story if you want to see more, next chapter we may either get to combat or focus on one last training session before doing so. So, until next time, stay gold!**


	4. Classes and First Assignment

**Welcome to chapter 4 of XCOM: Enemy Unknown! Today, the squad basically gets assigned classes and are assigned their first mission! Yes, I did a time skip because training can take a really long time and combat is the main reason you guys are here so I'll give it you ASAP!**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4: Classes and First Assignment**

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A few months had passed since the rookies first began training. They were rusty around the edges at first but in time they were all transformed from a bunch of misfit recruits to a squad that may actually turn out to be something in this war. They had even noticed a change in Mattos' behavior. Granted, he still yelled in their ears constantly, sometimes with a megaphone, but he wasn't as strict when they weren't training during the day. He was actually a pretty decent guy once they got to know him on a personal level. He even got over not knowing T's real name and began addressing T by his nickname. Today, however was where their training came to an end and they were going to be assigned classes by Mattos. The team had lined up and stood at attention as their former drill sergeant walked in with a list in his hands.

The first he approached was Damien, who eagerly awaited the news.

"Private McReary, you've been assigned to support; medic." Mattos announced.

"Sir!" Damien gave a salute, taking a bit of joy at the news. Mattos moved on to Connor net.

"Private Hewitt, you've been assigned to the heavy weapons class." he reported.

"Yes, sir!" Connor replied while giving a salute. The next to have their class assigned was Kevin.

"Private Stone, you're being assigned the assault class. Or infantry, whatever you want to call it." Mattos shrugged.

"Yes, sir, I'll do my best, sir." Kevin saluted. Mattos moved down the line, the next being Jonathan.

"Private Swift, you've been given the sniper class thanks to your remarkable accuracy. Hopefully you can do the same on the field like you did in training." Mattos said.

"Yes, sir." Jonathan said with a salute. "I'll be sure to see that the job is done, sir."

"That's a good man." Mattos nodded then moved on to David.

"Private Heilo, you've been assigned the heavy weapons class; try not to kill the whole squad while you're out there." Mattos joked.

"Yes, sir!" David said, smirking. "I'll try; keyword being try." The drill sergeant advanced to Victor.

"Private Nelson, you've been assigned the assault class." Mattos informed. Victor gave a nod and saluted as Mattos moved on. The following soldier was T.

"Private T, you've been assigned to assault as well. Don't get yourself killed in the field." Mattos said.

"Yes, sir! I wouldn't bank on it, sir!" T replied with a salute and Mattos approached Red.

"Private Jackson, you've also been assigned the assault class, less jokes more fighting; more jokers equals deaths, more fighting equals a chance to live another day." Mattos reported.

"Yes, sir." Red saluted, while behind his back he kept his fingers crossed though he would be a bit more careful. Mattos then moved on to Jesse.

"Private Guerrero, you've been assigned the support class; smokejumper. Use those smoke grenades wisely." Mattos said.

"Yes, sir, I will, sir." Jesse said with a salute as Mattos advanced down the line which was almost done. The next was Sarah.

"Private Matthews, you've been assigned to support; secondary field medic." Mattos reported.

"Yes, sir." Sarah saluted. Mattos then approached Axel.

"Private Blaze, you've been assigned the sniper class." Mattos said.

"Yes, sir! I'll blow off as many alien heads as I can, sir!" Axel said with a salute.

"Now, don't go hogging all the kills for yourself, private." Mattos replied. "Leave some for the others. Fight together, not for yourself." Mattos then approached Arceus.

"Corporal Cardigan, you've been given the sniper class."

"Yes, sir." Arceus said with a salute.

"Alrighty," Mattos said, stepping in front of the whole squad. "Now that we've got your classes assigned, we can move on to making two separate teams should we have to send another group to a second mission where the first aren't available. Team one will consist of Connor, Victor, Kevin, Axel, and Damien." Mattos said.

"But who's going to be our leader?" asked Connor. "We need some kind of squad leader or something."

"Arceus will be your leader unless a second-in-command was chosen." Mattos said, not looking up from his list as he assigned the second team. "Team two shall consist of Sarah, Jesse, Red, David, Jonathan, and T. Arceus, team two will be your team. Team one will be codenamed Blade and team two will be codenamed Ghost. I'll search for a suitable leader for team one, in the mean time; pick a temporary second-in-command. Once you have it settled, meet mr and Bradford in mission control." with that said, Mattos exited the room.

Arceus turned to team blade and thought for a moment.

"Private Hewitt, you'll be in charge of team blade." Arceus finally said.

"Yes, sir! I'll do my best." Connor said with a nod.

"Alright, men, let's head to mission control." Arceus ordered and the squad walked over to the main control room where a large hologlobe greeted them. It glowed bright blue with the continents and their countries all present.

"Whoa…." Kevin admired.

"That's a big globe." Red said bluntly as Bradford had noticed the squad and ushered a man in a full military uniform, topped with a beret, towards them. He was quite muscular in appearance with dark brown eyes of authority beaming into them. The squad stood at attention.

"Echo squad, this is the Commander." Bradford informed the troops before he turned to the man. "Here's the squad you requested to see, sir." the Commander took at look at the squad then finally said.

"We've got three abduction sites with requests for assistance. Russia, is being assisted by Team Magma of Bravo squad, Nigeria is being cleared out by Team Grinch of Alpha squad. I was informed of your teams and I want Team Blade to step forward." Connor stepped up first, followed by Victor, Kevin, Axel, and Damien.

"Get yourselves suited up in the armory, the last location is here, in the US; you've going in. Arceus may lead this mission as we may need his experience here. The rest of you are dismissed. Good luck, gentlemen." the Commander turned and exited the control room while Team Blade and Arceus saluted.

"Sir, yes, sir!" they all said in unison and headed down to the armory while the other half of the squad departed to the barracks.

The men all entered the armory where racks of guns sat, another held light brown tinted body armor. The team first grabbed the armor and began to suit up.

"This chest plate is a bit stiff…" Kevin commented.

"Eh, you'll get used to it." Connor said as he finished putting on his armor and stretched in it. Victor snapped on his knee pads and grabbed a helmet with a dark visor covering the eye slits. Victor put it on and the rest of the squad slipped on some helmets. Damien however, just picked out a black fedora.

"What's with the fedora?" Connor asked through the helmet's filter.

"I like fedoras," Damien explained. "Plus, its gets kinda sweaty in those helmets." the team then picked out their weapons. Connor grabbed a large LMG and loaded with a fresh magazine. He then grabbed a rocket launcher and strapped it to his back along with the LMG, Kevin loaded a shotgun and gave it a small pump, Victor and Damien picked out regular assault rifles while Damien and Arceus picked up sniper rifles.

The whole team, excluding Connor then slid pistols into their holsters, along with a few grenades, before they made a straight beeline to the Skyranger where their pilot, Big Sky, was already waiting for them in the cockpit. He opened the back ramp and the team filed in, taking their seats. Connor sat at the far end of the Skyranger, Kevin sat next to him, followed by Victor. Damien, Axel, and Arceus sat together on the other side.

"Central, Big Sky is loaded and ready for take off." the pilot reported in.

"Copy, Bik Sky, you're clear for take off." Bradford replied over the comm link and the Skyranger's back ramped slowly reeled up and closed.

"Here we go!" Connor said with great anticipation as the Skyranger slowly lifted of the ground and sped out of the hangar towards its designated coordinates.

"Alright, listen up, men." Bradford's voice came in through the Skyranger's communications. "This is an abduction site, your objective is to get into the AO and eliminate any hostiles in the area, watch your backs out there, people." the comm cut out.

"So, its a bug hunt, eh?" Kevin asked. "This should be fun.

"More like an ET hunt." Victor said dryly and the squad gave a light chuckle as the Skyranger flew though the night sky, closing in on their destination. The Skyranger slowly landed in a street in front of a warehouse. It had begun to rain. Thunder was heard as the Skyranger touched down.

* * *

**And there's the new chapter for you! Cliffhanger, yeah but don't worry, I promise the next chapter will be the combat an you will all be happy, right? Anyway, read, review, and stay gold, my friends! :D**


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